On 10 July Stef (sjarelkwint) and me made a new route and a possible FA of the peak Maja Preht (about 2430 m) in Prokletije/Bjeshket e nemuna, Albania. The route goes up the peak's east face (visible on the photo - see below - in the shadow) and is IV+ UIAA, 2 pitches (can be made 1 pitch with a 70 m rope), quite dangerous due to the choss, with a very long and strenuous approach to a remote part of the range. The name of the route is "No Pegs, More Rakija", as we managed to climb it without pitons and abbed down from a single sling only.

Had Maja Preht been climbed before or not? On a flat rock at the summit we found a stone which must have been sitting there for very long - it was broken into a few pieces by natural erosion, there was moisture and lichens below it, and it was a home to a woodlouse. Had it been placed there by a human, it would have to be a very long time ago. After abseiling to the bottom of our route we found a line to its right which may be easier. Had some skilful local shepherd kid scrambled to the top before us? Let this remain another mystery of the Accursed Mountains.

We built a little cairn at the summit, with a plastic bottle containing the details of our climb inside it.

Maja Preht is the sharp peak (BTW its name in Albanian means Sharp Peak) in the middle of this photo, the nearest neighbour of Maja Lagojvet which we climbed for the first time with Seba 3 years ago. Now Seba was on the trip with us too but unfortunately a big chunk of rock hit his leg so he could not climb with us. Luckily the injury was not serious and he was more or less alright the next day

Great news Stef, congrats on getting the job!And good to hear from you finally I'll repeat the question here, whose is the Marmot t-shirt that smelt like a marmot? Now when you're in Krakow you get a better chance to get it back if it's yours. If not... we were all smellin' like marmots after the return

That's great news. Congratulations! No pegs is fine with me while rakija is not any longer If I ever got there, I'd try that scramble to the right. But is there any water nearby or only the hospitable shepherds treating you with barrels of rakija